Double dipping as “Birthday Week” rolls along with some more good food and wine on days 2 and 3!

Day two of birthday week featured one of our favorite meals: Steak and Spot Prawn Fajitas. I didn’t take a picture of it because, well, once you roll those bad boys up they look exactly the same as every other fajita, soft taco, and burrito in existence. There is nothing remarkable about my fajitas, except for the delicious marinade that the meat soaks in for several hours. Oh, and one more thing: They aren’t spicy at all. The wife cannot handle spicy foods.

Now, when I say that, people think I mean that she doesn’t enjoy chewing on Ghost Peppers. No, I mean she can’t handle spicy foods, AT ALL. I mean, jalapeño is totally out of the question, let alone anything really spicy. I almost murdered her once with a jalapeño corn side dish, and I didn’t serve her any jalapeño….just the corn that had sat on a baking tray in the general proximity of the peppers. I have never seen a human being turn that color of purple before, and I hope I never do again.

So, wine pairing with the dish are actually much easier with the lack of spice. First, one I picked up at the BC Liquor Store in Abbotsford earlier this summer (at the time, it was on sale for $29.99).

The second one from a BC Winery that I was totally unfamiliar with, but I have seen some on the Okanagan Wine Club VIP Facebook Group that are fans of this winery, so when I noticed it on the shelf at a local private liquor store, I figured I would give it a shot. It was good, but not so memorable that I would necessarily rush out to get a bunch more.

On Day 3 , I spent a lot of the day prepping yesterday’s dinner, as well as putting tonight’s dinner together. Today is US Thanksgiving and I plan to sit in front of the telly and watch some football for most of the day, so I will be thankful to have dinner all ready to go into the oven when it’s time.

I get a lot of great recipes from these two “cooking with BC wine books”, including the main part of last night’s dinner.

Can meat loaf realllllllly be “gourmet”?? Before discovering this recipe, my answer would have been a resounding “no”. But this meatloaf is so good I actually crave it. And the pureed parsnips?? Fuggetaboutit. Just unreal. That recipe comes from Thomas Keller, owner and proprietor of The French Laundry, probably the most exclusive restaurant in California, if not the entire country. And SO EASY. They are cooked in water and cream, tossed into a blender with some butter, and voila!! You have one of the best side dishes you could imagine.

Wine pairing with this dish was really easy, any bold red wine would work beautifully. We went to a couple that we have enjoyed previously, and both worked with dinner as expected.

So, tonight is Day 4 of “Birthday Week”…. what is up on the menu tonight? Well, when I made the fresh pasta earlier in the week, I also made some fresh Lasagne noodles, so I’m going to try my first Lasagne with fresh noodles. I am sure it will taste fabulous, just not sure if the noodles will remain al dente or if they might get soggy. I guess I’ll find out tonight!

As for wine pairings, I guess it would be traditional to go to Italy for tonight’s selections. Lucky for me, we have some pretty awesome Italian wine ready to go. Stay tuned!